Morocco: AfDB Mobilizes €70 Mln to Increase Access to Drinking Water

Abidjan – The Board of Directors of the African Development Bank (AfDB) granted, on Friday in Abidjan, a loan of 70 million euros to Morocco to implement the Project for strengthening production and improving technical and commercial performance of drinking water systems.

The new operation aims to improve the performance of production systems and further secure access to drinking water for the cities of Meknes, Tissa, Missour and Outat El Haj, said the ADB in a statement.

“Ensuring access to safe drinking water for all is a prerequisite for sustainable development. The new operation consolidates our action in the water sector with cumulative commitments of more than €1.2 billion,” said Mohamed El Azizi, AfDB Director General for North Africa.

“Our objective is to contribute to strengthening and securing access to drinking water for millions of inhabitants of cities and rural areas,” said Achraf Hassan Tarsim, the Bank’s Country Manager for Morocco, emphasizing the AfDB’s support for the deployment of the Kingdom’s new development model.

The project will help increase storage capacity and control water leakage. It will also further improve service to users, as well as sharing know-how in the areas of environment, monitoring and evaluation and new technologies, the statement added.

“This first phase of the project will enable some four million people to benefit from more reliable and safer water services,” said Osward Chanda, Director of the Water and Sanitation Department at the African Development Bank, noting that “our historic partnership with the Kingdom will contribute to preserving the health of urban and rural populations and further improve their quality of life”.

This operation is perfectly in line with the Bank’s five major priorities, the “High 5”. It is also in line with the Bank’s Ten-Year Strategy 2013-2022, which aims at establishing the conditions for sustainable and inclusive growth on the continent.

The African Development Bank has been active in Morocco for over fifty years. The financing covers health, water, agriculture, energy, transport, human development and the financial sector, recalled the same source.